Frontier County, NE
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 40.53, -100.41.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 27th pct · 2,227th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 25th pct · 67th of 89 Nebraska counties · median $218,486
- 82nd pct · 546th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 73rd pct · 24th of 89 Nebraska counties · median +4.0%
- US counties: not published this period
- Nebraska counties: not published this period
- 3rd pct · 3,094th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 23rd pct · 71st of 93 Nebraska counties · median 2,151
- 11th pct · 2,864th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 18th pct · 76th of 93 Nebraska counties · median $970
- 45th pct · 1,674th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 47th pct · 47th of 89 Nebraska counties · median 4.1
Typical home value divided by the average annual wage of one covered job.
A percentile here is a min-max scaling of average rank: the smallest published value in the cohort is 0 and the largest is 100, and tied values share the average of the ranks they span. It is not the share of entities below the value, so 0 means smallest, not none below. Entities that did not publish the metric are outside the cohort entirely and are counted in neither the rank nor its denominator.
Home values #
Typical home $178,123 (Aug 2026), +6.3% over one year, +21.7% over five
- 27th pct · 2,227th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 25th pct · 67th of 89 Nebraska counties · median $218,486
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Frontier County, NE | $178,123 · +6.3% 1-yr |
Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), typical value of homes in the 35th to 65th percentile, smoothed and seasonally adjusted; a model estimate of value, not a sale price. Data through Zillow Research.
Rents #
Zillow publishes no rent index for this area (ZORI covers about 1,400 counties)
- US counties: not published this period
- Nebraska counties: not published this period
Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI), smoothed, all homes and multifamily; price-to-rent = typical home / (typical rent × 12).
What the typical home costs to carry #
Principal and interest of $975 a month on $178,123 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,666 a month: 26.6% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $178,123 × 80% = $142,499, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $975/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $846 × 52 / 12 = $3,666) = 27% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $178,123 / ($846 × 52) = 4.0
The wage is one covered job’s average, not a household’s income, so this is the share of a single paycheque and not a mortgage underwriting ratio.
Estimate. Principal and interest on the typical home with 20% down over 30 years at this week's Freddie Mac average rate; compared with the average weekly wage of all jobs covered by unemployment insurance in the area (BLS QCEW), which is pay per job, not household income.
Jobs & wages #
689 jobs at 89 employers (2026 Q1); -9.1% jobs and +8.3% average weekly wage over the year
- 3rd pct · 3,094th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 23rd pct · 71st of 93 Nebraska counties · median 2,151
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Frontier County, NE | 689 jobs · $846/wk · -9.1% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 61 | $513 | 0.91 | -3.2% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 49 | $913 | 9.85 | -37.2% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 39 | $718 | 1.34 | +0.0% |
| Wholesale trade | 34 | $1,178 | 1.29 | +0.0% |
| Other services | 17 | $938 | 0.83 | +13.3% |
| Professional and technical services | 10 | $751 | 0.21 | -47.4% |
| Construction | withheld | |||
| Manufacturing | withheld | |||
| Information | withheld | |||
| Finance and insurance | withheld | |||
| Real estate and rental | withheld | |||
| Management of companies | withheld |
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, all ownerships, total covered employment in the quarter's third month; over-the-year changes as published. Suppressed cells stay blank.
Drought #
D1 moderate drought
Sites found: 5, searched within 0 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 0 km away are not.
US Drought Monitor current week; the highest class of any polygon containing the point.
Reservoirs #
1 USGS reservoir gauges, no capacity figures to weight
Sites found: 1, searched within 150 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 150 km away are not.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Harlan County Lake Near Republican City, Nebr. | 169,800 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 113 km |
Σ(capacity × percent full) / Σ capacity over TWDB reservoirs within 150 km. Texas only; elsewhere USGS reservoir elevation/storage is listed without a capacity to normalise by.
Stream gauges #
20 gauges · 0 flooding · 0 with quality panels · 10 stale
Sites found: 20, searched within 75 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 75 km away are not.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| MEDICINE CREEK ABOVE HARRY STRUNK LAKE, NE | flow 59.0 ft³/s · STALE | 8 km |
| MEDICINE CREEK BELOW HARRY STRUNK LAKE, NEBR. | flow 77.0 ft³/s · STALE | 24 km |
| RED WILLOW CREEK NEAR MCCOOK, NEBR. | flow 4.70 ft³/s · STALE | 29 km |
| Red Willow Creek near Red Willow, Nebr. | flow 2.79 ft³/s | 34 km |
| RED WILLOW CREEK ABOVE HUGH BUTLER LAKE, NEBR. | flow 27.0 ft³/s · STALE | 35 km |
| Republican River at Cambridge, Nebr. | flow 22.2 ft³/s · STALE | 35 km |
| Republican River at McCook, Nebr. | flow 1.42 ft³/s | 42 km |
| Driftwood Creek near McCook, Nebr. | flow 1.07 ft³/s | 48 km |
| MUDDY CREEK AT ARAPAHOE, NEBR. | flow 7.40 ft³/s · STALE | 49 km |
| Frenchman Creek at Culbertson, Nebr. | flow 12.9 ft³/s | 52 km |
USGS latest readings screened against EPA freshwater criteria (DO ≥ 5 mg/L, pH 6.5–9, conductance, turbidity, temperature); NWS flood categories where a NWPS gauge is co-located.
Groundwater #
9 wells in 0 named aquifers:
Sites found: 9, searched within 75 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 75 km away are not.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| USGS-402101099595001 | depth 133.3 ft · 2001-03-17 | 40 km |
| USGS-405445100074001 | depth 5.10 ft · 2026-10-05 | 48 km |
| USGS-405014099591001 | depth 9.82 ft · 2026-10-05 | 49 km |
| USGS-405855100073901 | depth 66.7 ft · 2026-10-05 | 55 km |
| USGS-405118099514901 | depth 7.95 ft · 2026-10-05 | 58 km |
| USGS-404717099460501 | depth 8.15 ft · 2026-10-05 | 61 km |
| USGS-404949099445701 | depth 13.5 ft · 2026-10-05 | 65 km |
| USGS-403132099381001 | depth 160.9 ft · 1994-08-08 | 65 km |
USGS latest daily water levels. A single latest reading says where the table is, not which way it is moving; select a well for its 365-day trace.
Water stress #
moderate (0.25)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.25 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$113.5 m in deposits at 4 offices of 4 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,975, highly concentrated. $24.0 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $22.8 m, grants $1.2 m), $34,881 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Western Nebraska Bank | $44.6 m · 39.3% share · 1 office | |
| Henderson State Bank | $31.1 m · 27.4% share · 1 office | |
| Waypoint Bank | $27.9 m · 24.6% share · 1 office | |
| Frontier, NE | $24.0 m FY2026 · $34,881/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $15.1 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Western Nebraska Bank | $44,553,000 | 39.3% | 1 |
| Henderson State Bank | $31,122,000 | 27.4% | 1 |
| Waypoint Bank | $27,911,000 | 24.6% | 1 |
| First Central Bank McCook | $9,889,000 | 8.7% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,975 across 4 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 4 banks with deposits in the county = 39.3² + 27.4² + 24.6² + … (1 more) = 2,975
FDIC Summary of Deposits: deposits at every insured office as of June 30, annual; HHI is the sum of squared county deposit shares (DOJ 1995 bank merger screen: 1000 / 1800). USAspending: obligations by place of performance for the latest complete federal fiscal year (Oct 1 to Sep 30), what agencies committed, not what they paid out; recipients are legal entities. Per-job divides obligations by BLS QCEW covered employment.
Federal obligations #
USAspending place-of-performance obligations for FY2026, by awarding agency.
| Awarding agency | Obligations |
|---|---|
| Social Security Administration | $12,638,271 |
| Department of Agriculture | $7,682,342 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $1,722,901 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $720,904 |
| Department of Transportation | $551,003 |
| Department of Justice | $500,000 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $89,303 |
| Department of Education | $66,182 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $57,963 |
| Department of the Interior | $4,000 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
That is $34,881 per covered job, against 689 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $24.0 m / 689 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $34,881
USAspending obligations are recorded where the work is performed, so a prime award performed here is counted here even when the recipient is headquartered elsewhere. Recipients are legal entities, never people.
National context, not this county #
These are United States, single-gauge, single-state and port series. None of them is keyed to this county.
| Series | Latest | As of | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi River at Memphis, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Mississippi River at St. Louis, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Ohio River at Louisville, stage · ft | 12.69 | 2026-10-05 | +3.3% |
| Missouri River at St. Joseph, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Colorado River below Hoover Dam, flow (Hoover releases) · ft³/s | 5,170.00 | 2026-02-05 | -25.3% |
| Texas reservoirs, statewide percent full · % | 72.60 | 2026-10-06 | +0.0% |
| Laredo truck crossings, monthly · trucks | 258,700.00 | 2026-08-01 | -0.4% |
| Los Angeles + Long Beach container volume, annual · TEU | 10,513,167.00 | 2023-01-01 | -13.5% |
| Containerships waiting for a berth, all US ports · ships | 6.00 | 2026-09-22 | -14.3% |
| Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate · $ per 40 ft box | 6,830.00 | 2026-08-01 | +7.4% |
| US diesel retail price · $ per gallon | unavailable | not published | |
| WTI crude oil, spot · $ per barrel | 96.16 | 2026-09-29 | -3.2% |
| 30-year fixed mortgage rate · % | 7.28 | 2026-10-01 | +3.6% |
| Housing starts, annual rate · thousands of units | 1,275.00 | 2026-08-01 | -2.6% |
| Building permits, annual rate · thousands of units | 1,403.00 | 2026-08-01 | -2.1% |
| Case-Shiller US home price index · index, Jan 2000 = 100 | 337.31 | 2026-07-01 | +0.1% |
| Unemployment rate · % | 4.20 | 2026-09-01 | +2.4% |
| US goods and services trade balance, monthly · $ millions | -88,576.00 | 2026-07-01 | -24.4% |
| Retail sales excluding food services, monthly · $ millions | 646,347.00 | 2026-08-01 | +1.1% |
The indicator registry has no county-keyed series and no geographic selection: every entry is national, a named gauge, a single state or a port. They are here as the backdrop the county's own numbers move against, and they are never this county's readings.
What changed #
Frontier County, NE: 9 findings, 1 at an alert level, 1 at a watch level and 7 noted
alertFrontier County, NE's covered employment is -9.1% against a year earlier, an alert level here: covered employment at least 3 percent below the same quarter a year earlier (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- test: jobs.yoy.emp = -9.1 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchFrontier County, NE's covered employment is -9.1% against a year earlier, a watch level here: covered employment below the same quarter a year earlier (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- test: jobs.yoy.emp = -9.1 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteFrontier County, NE's covered employment was 9.1% lower than the same quarter a year earlier in 2026 Q1, on BLS QCEW's published over-the-year change.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- -9.1 % = BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change for 2026 Q1, as published
- the newest QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, so no move from one level to another is printed
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published
noteFrontier County, NE's average weekly wage was 8.3% higher than the same quarter a year earlier in 2026 Q1, on BLS QCEW's published over-the-year change.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- +8.3 % = BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change for 2026 Q1, as published
- the newest QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, so no move from one level to another is printed
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published
noteFrontier County, NE's typical home value fell 0.3% from $178,579 in July 2026 to $178,123 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- -0.3% = (178123.35122267867 - 178579.19994539523) / 178579.19994539523 × 100
- 178123.35122267867 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 178579.19994539523 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
Read all 9 findings in the full brief
Every finding is produced by a fixed rule table and a fixed sentence for each rule. Nothing here is generated prose.